How bad are nylon and polyester clothing for the environment?

Question

A few weeks ago I heard a news story about new research that found that polyester clothing is more of an environmental concern than previously thought. The reason for this is that each time you wash polyester clothes, thousands of plastic microfibers are washed away and end up in groundwater or in the sea. The news story didn't mention the exact effects of the microfibers in the waste water. So my question is: how bad exactly are nylon and polyester clothing for the environment?

I tried to find more information about the original research, but wasn't able to find it. I did find this Guardian article about a researcher named Mark Browne who found back in 2011 that

85% of the human-made material found on the shoreline were microfibers, and matched the types of material, such as nylon and acrylic, used in clothing.

But the same article also mentions:

Not only are synthetic fabrics durable and versatile, but they can have smaller water and energy footprint than natural fabrics

I suspect that the jury is still out on the final verdict. Does anyone know where I can find recent information about what is currently known about this (potential) problem?

Answer 1

Summary:

• Nylon, acrylic and especially polyester clothing release lots of microplastics during laundry. For polyester a study found between 6 and 17,7 million microfibers per 5kg wash
• Microplastics are now ubiquitous; they are found in various foods and in 83% of drinking water samples around the world, including both tap and bottled water
• We don't know the exact effects of microplastics on human or animal health, but the results of preliminary research are rather negative; human immune cells die after trying to absorb microplastics and micro-lungs stop growing when exposed to nylon fibers

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I found more information about this, and since there hasn't been a single answer so far I'm going to self-answer my question based on what I found.

Microplastics are spreading

There are several aspects that make this a rather worrying problem. First of all recent research found that clothing gives off much more particles in a washing machine than previously thought. The 2011 paper written by Mark Browne mentioned over 1900 fibers per garment, but new research has found that

a typical 5 kg wash load of polyester fabrics could release an impressive number of microfibres, in the range of 6,000,000 - 17,700,000 ... depending on the type of detergent used.

As far as I've read there still is no direct evidence linking microfibers found in oceans to clothing but we do know that microfibers make up 85% of all man-made materials found in various ocean water samples (see Mark Brown's 2011 paper mentioned earlier). Also the types and amount of fibers found on shores matches those used in the clothing industry.

Second, we know from past research that plastic particles in (sea)water absorb other toxins present in the water. We also know microplastics are eaten by marine animals, thus introducing toxic pollutants into the food chain.

Third, waste water treatment plants lets microfibers through and microplastics are now found in 83% of drinking water samples around the world, including both tap and bottled water. Besides water, microplastics have also been found in fish, honey, beer and salt

Plastic particles have spread around the entire globe and are now also found in remote places such as the North Pole

Health effects

Research on the health effects of microplastics in animal or human bodies has only just begun:

The WHO recently released a report saying that

Based on the limited evidence available, chemicals and microbial pathogens associated with microplastics in drinking-water pose a low concern for human health. Although there is insufficient information to draw firm conclusions on the toxicity of nanoparticles, no reliable information suggests it is a concern.

However, the preliminary results of a large Dutch study are very negative:

• immune cells that recognise and attack microplastics will die quickly as a result of the contact
• when mini-lungs, bred from lung cells, are exposed to polyester they continue to develop normally, but when exposed to nylon microfibers growth stops

Source: original news article in Dutch and translated to English by Google

Potential solutions

Although research is still in progress, an EU-sponsored research project called MERMAIDS mentions several solutions to at least reduce the problem:

• Reduce friction between garments by

  1. filling up your washing machine to the max,
  2. use washing liquid instead of powder,
  3. use a fabric softener.

• Reduce the amount of 'damage' to your clothing so less fibers are released by

  1. washing at low temperatures,
  2. avoiding long washings,
  3. dry spin at lower revolutions.

Furthermore the Ocean Clean Wash Charter mentions a few potential future solutions:

• Develop washing machine filters that catch the microfibers
• Develop synthetic fabrics or that don't give off microfibers
• Develop impregnation that prevents the release of microfibers.

Of course you could also try to avoid buying polyester, acrylic and nylon clothing until a good permanent solution has been found and implemented.